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Products:
Synthetic Motor Oil -
Revenue:
$150 Million -
Industry:
Manufacturing
“We want to remain a leader in a highly competitive industry, and we do this using data. One of my chief functions is to provide accurate and clean data so that the customer’s experience buying from us is convenient wherever they plan to buy our products. It’s critical that the right data is available at the right point in their purchase journey, whether it’s an in-person purchase or ecommerce sale.”
- Dewey Asbach, Internet Services Manager
The Problem:
No centralized data | Inconvenience
The Solution:
Mozenda data helps AMSOIL extract and organize the unstructured web data used to develop and maintain a variety of planning resources and customer sales tools.
Summary
Mozenda helps synthetic lubricant pioneer AMSOIL compete against much larger brands such as Mobil, Pennzoil, Shell, Castrol, and Valvoline. From e-commerce operations and product merchandising to retail planning, ready access to unstructured web data helps AMSOIL regularly solve a variety of strategic and tactical challenges.
AMSOIL uses Mozenda to:
- build their location database for online customer searches
- plan retail distribution
- research market prices
Day One Innovation
Founder Al Amatuzio didn’t invent synthetic oil, but his experiences as a US Air Force and Air National Guard jet pilot convinced him of its merits. After years of independent research, AMSOIL opened its doors in 1972 with a 10W-40 Motor Oil product that was so good, 25,000-mile oil changes were recommended. In the decades since, AMSOIL has never ceased innovating, a necessity when competing against many of the world’s largest energy companies.
Data is Everything
According to Internet Services Manager Dewey Asbach, “data is everything when selling motor oil.” AMSOIL’s sales come from a retail network comprised of retail stores and independent sellers, in addition to e-commerce sales. Extensive data analysis helps AMSOIL punch above its weight in areas as diverse as product development, product distribution and marketing.
“We want to remain a leader in a highly competitive industry, and we do this using data. One of my chief functions is to provide accurate and clean data so that the customer’s experience buying from us is convenient wherever they plan to buy our products. It’s critical that the right data is available at the right point in their purchase journey, whether it’s an in-person purchase or e-commerce sale.”
Unfortunately, the data Asbach needs is not handily available in a central and convenient location, or through a simple download from a data broker. To create analytical databases and digital sales tools for customers, AMSOIL needs to tap dozens of data sources. Mozenda is his tool of choice to accomplish this.
“We have original manufacturer data that isn’t easily publicly available. Providing customers with location data is also critical for us because retail and dealer addresses often help them decide how and where to buy. To gather the different types of data we use in an accurate and easily available format, we use Mozenda.”
Applications & Use Cases
Mozenda data helps AMSOIL extract and organize the unstructured web data used to develop and maintain a variety of planning resources and customer sales tools.
Look Up Guides
One of AMSOIL’s most successful tools has been Look Up Guides that provide shoppers with product recommendations based on vehicle or equipment type. AMSOIL launched its first Look Up Guide (light trucks) in 2010 and has since created others for a variety of powersports and equipment categories. Mozenda data helps Asbach maintain existing Guides, as well as conduct initial research when creating new Guides.
Store Location Search
The “Find AMSOIL Near You” functionality on the company’s home page provides a postal code search function that site visitors can use to find an AMSOIL retail store, service center or independent Dealer in their area. Mozenda helps Asbach ensure the accuracy of this address database.
Retail Distribution Planning
AMSOIL’s strategic planning team uses Mozenda data for retail distribution planning. This primarily consists of mapping retail and quick lube style locations to identify new locations that may be new retail opportunities. Whenever new sites are discovered, AMSOIL can dispatch one of its local dealers or a company rep for an introduction.
Competitive Pricing Research
Competitive pricing research is one of the most common uses of web data scraping for any company selling online. Asbach regularly extracts web data from e-commerce sites’ public information to help understand the market better, track product categories and monitor competitors’ pricing against AMSOIL’s.
Data Integrity & Accuracy
After his Mozenda web agents have gathered web data, Asbach and his team analyze it and confirm that the results are active and current. Differences with previous results are investigated before updating production databases. Because data accuracy is paramount, AMSOIL constantly confirms data integrity and accuracy.
“As I like to say, ‘you don’t buy oil just to have oil, oil is going somewhere.’ It’s going into small engine equipment or a vehicle someone is going to drive. Data has been and remains a game changer for us so finding the right tools to manage it has been and remains a key part of what I do here and a major priority for the company overall.”
A Successful Tool
In his years working with Mozenda, Asbach has seen a number of operational benefits. Reliable and automated web scraping eliminates the need to hire manual researchers so he can complete projects using fewer people in less time. Working with Mozenda helps him make quicker decisions, demonstrate the results of web data insights and activities and move onto the next project.
“When we find a tool that helps us lead and helps us innovate and gives us a competitive advantage we almost always decide that it’s worth adding to our toolbox. We discovered Mozenda several years ago and it’s proven to be a hugely successful addition for us. I definitely recommend it.”
